High School

Waterbury, CT- 24 January 2014-012414CM10- Sacred Heart's Liam Coleman swims the back stroke during the 200 yard IM during a dual meet against Naugatuck in Waterbury Friday night. Coleman won the event in 2:10.61. Christopher Massa Republican-American

For a team that has athletes who don't have deep swimming backgrounds, Sacred Heart is churning along quite nicely toward a fourth straight Naugatuck Valley League title.

The Hearts won their first six NVL meets. If they can beat Torrington later this month, they will be set up ideally going into the NVL championships.

"We're progressing well," said head coach Ray Snyder. "We have some very fast kids, but they are rather novices at the sport. I felt before the season that we would be in the mix with maybe Torrington and Watertown pressing us the hardest."

Sacred Heart, which has also won the state Class S titles two of the last three years and captured four championships in the last six years (two runner-up finishes during that span), has already overcome two big hurdles in the NVL, Naugatuck and Watertown, in dual meets.

Sacred Heart's run of titles has been assisted greatly by its diving program, led by coach Al Ricard.

"Really, what made us become a strong team was when we started producing top divers, and Al has done a fantastic job with the kids," said Snyder. "I believe that year in and year out we are one of the better diving teams in the state."

Snyder also pointed to the help he receives from assistant coaches Butch Savage and his dad, Ray Snyder II, as crucial to the success of the program.

Watertown is one of several teams still in the mix in the NVL, having lost only to Sacred Heart in its first six league meets.

He added, "Freshmen Arion Mete and Trevor Gursky have excelled in the high school swimming environment and are expected to be valuable contributors at the end of the year. In addition, all of our athletes continue to work hard in practice and improve every day.

"Bryan Flores is in his first year at Watertown and has been a solid contributor at every meet this year," said Danaher. "He is from Ecuador and has made a positive impact on the team."

Seniors Brandon DiPietro and Andrew Roy have been key members of the Kennedy squad, which won three of its first eight meets.

"We also have some good juniors," said head coach Shea Moriarty. "William Ducham and Tyler Wrenn are staples on our top relays and Imar Trammell has made the state championship in diving. A new competitor, Angel Cotto, has also qualified for the state championships in diving. Camilo Barrera and Thomas Rago started as athletes learning to swim, but have now become top members of our team."

Cheshire won seven of its first eight meets and head coach Fran Connolly called it a "great" start to the campaign.

"We have 27 kids on the roster, 22 either freshmen or sophomores," Connolly said. "We're working hard and having a good ride."

Top swimmers have been sophomore Karl Bishop in the distance events and Kyle Shadeck, another sophomore, in the IM and butterfly. Providing depth have been sophomores Mike Goodrich, John Gaudio, and Matt Pinciaro, and freshmen Gabe Page, and Ryan Nguyen. Alex Cheruk, a sophomore sprinter, Alex Bauer, a versatile senior, and Sal DeLucia, a sophomore diver have also been key.

"Cheruk's and Bauer's improvement since last season really strengthened our squad's lineup," said Connolly.

Freshmen Will Wynne, and Ryan Mostoller have been impact swimmers.

"Our senior tri-captains have managed to hang in there when almost three full years of their four-year careers have been without a home pool," said Connolly. "Pat Morley, Jon Qian, and Brian Johnson have stuck with it when it hasn't always been the easiest of circumstances. They have shown good fortitude, determination and dedication to the program."

Cheshire beat Xavier for only the second time since Connolly stopped coaching at Xavier (2-6 in eight meets against his former team), and the Rams beat Sacred Heart for the first time in a half-decade. The 7-1 start was the team's best since 2007.

"We moved up to LL this year in the states and we're looking forward to qualifying as many as possible for that tough, fast, demanding meet."

Spencer Moran has burst onto the scene as a freshman at Oxford. Against Pomperaug on Jan. 28, Moran captured the 100 butterfly in 59.36 and the 100 backstroke in 1:00.35 and was part of the winning 400 free relay.

"Spencer is a freshman who just broke a school record," said head coach Martha Erdman. " He is a hard-working, talented athlete and a well-rounded, stand-up person."

Northwestern got a leg up on Shepaug in the Berkshire League race by beating the Spartans in Winsted a week and a half ago.

"The meet against Shepaug was exciting and both teams swam great," said Northwestern head coach Mary DiMauro, whose team has no losses in the league, while Shepaug has one. "The medley relay record and the 200-free record we set that night were an added bonus."

She observed, "The kids have been working really hard. We have meets against teams from the NVL, Woodland and Torrington, and we swim Shepaug again at their pool. They always swim well and will be tough to beat. I think we have the potential to do very well the rest of the way."

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